Macedonia v Serbia predictions

Match	Date	Selection	Bet	Odds	Bet now
Macedonia v Serbia predictions World Cup Qualifiers, International	16/10/2012 20:30	full time result	Draw	3.3	Bet at Ladbrokes
Betting prediction was written by Ian

MACEDONIA v SERBIA PREDICTIONS AND PREVIEW: BETTING STATS

Macedonia are currently 104th in the FIFA World Rankings. They did not qualify for the 2010 World Cup or Euro 2012. Macedonia have scored 7 goals in their last eleven matches and conceded 5. Serbia are currently 33rd the FIFA World Rankings They did not qualify for the finals of Euro 2012 but reached the last sixteen of the 2010 World Cup. Serbia have scored 9 goals in their last eleven matches and conceded 14.

TEAM NEWS AND RUN OF PLAY

Goran Pendev is the captain of Macedonia and probably their best player. His club side is Napoli in Italy’s Serie A so he has to be a decent player to play in that league. He is the country’s main goalscorer and a return of 25 goals in 67 matches is a good record in a team of Macedonia’s class. Milan Jovanovic is the main goalscorer for Serbia, while Nikola Zigic and Branislav Ivanovic of Chelsea in England also contribute. Jovanivic did not score during a brief stay with Liverpool two years ago and currently plays his club football for Anderlecht in Belgium.

Serbia have a nucleus of players who have appeared in some of the main leagues around Europe. Ivanovic in particular can take control of the defence and he was particularly influential in Serbia’s 6-1 defeat of Wales. He can play at full back or in the centre of the defence. Even playing away from home Serbia should be able to dominate possession against a moderate home side. In Friday’s game against Belgium which Serbia lost 3-0 they still had 55% of the possession. Macedonia had the ball for just 40% of their match against Croatia so similar shares of possession are expected in this match.

MACEDONIA - SERBIA PREDICTIONS: 1X2 BETTING PREVIEW

Even if Serbia do have more of the ball a win away from home may be beyond them. They were outclassed by Belgium last Friday and to lose by such a margin at home can have done little for their confidence. Macedonia also lost at home but there was more credit in a 2-1 defeat to a decent Croatia side. It is difficult to see Serbia recovering well enough to win this match but they have a good chance of avoiding defeat.

Ladbrokes go 3.3 for the draw.

MACEDONIA - SERBIA PREDICTIONS: ASIAN HANDICAP PREVIEW

On current world rankings this is a game that Serbia should have enough ability to win. However after scoring six against Wales they never looked like beating Belgium last week and that class side had a comfortable win. Macedonia can be tough to beat at home and were unbeaten at their own stadium in the three matches before the Croatia game. Macedonia can avoid defeat and should be backed with any start on the handicap. Beginners not familiar with Asian Handicap can find info here: http://howtobet.net/online-betting-guide/asian-handicap

Its 2.88 Macedonia -0.25 with Betfair.

MACEDONIA - SERBIA PREDICTIONS: TOTAL GOALS PREVIEW

On the face of it Serbia’s goal scoring record looks reasonable. However the figures are distorted by the six goals they scored in one match against Wales. In fact they have scored just three goals in 8 other matches played this year. Macedonia’s last 11 matches have produced just eleven goals so the statistics firmly point to a low scoring match on Tuesday.

Pinnacle Sports say under 3 goals at 1.61.